Apologetics Profile

David Hume (1711 - 1776) penned what has arguably become one of the most widely quoted works against the possibility of miracles. Hume's essay, "Of Miracles," appears in his larger work, An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding. In this short essay, Hume tries to argue in such a way that virtually no evidence for a miracle would be sufficient to establish a claim that a miracle has taken place. 

On the next two editions of Apologetics Profile we speak with Christian philosopher Dr. Timothy McGrew about Hume's life and times and some of the weaknesses of Hume's arguments. Tim gives us helpful insights into the nature of Hume's thesis and helps us understand some of the more often cited quotations used by non-believers today who argue against the possibility of miracles. On part one we talk a little about Hume's life and times and get into part one of Hume's essay. 

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BONUS: Tim was also interviewed for one of our meetings of the Atheist & Christian Book Club (www.AtheistChristianBookClub.com) to respond to Bart Ehrman's book, Jesus Interrupted. You can watch that interview here:

Dr. Timothy McGrew is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Philosophy at Western Michigan University. He specializes in theory of knowledge, logic, probability theory, and the history and philosophy of science. He has published in numerous journals including Mind, The Monist, Analysis, Erkenntnis, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, and Philosophia Christi. His recent publications include the article on “Evidence” in The Routledge Companion to Epistemology, coauthorship of The Philosophy of Science: An Historical Anthology, coauthorship (with Lydia McGrew) of the article on “The Argument from Miracles” in The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology, and the article on “Miracles” for The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

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In this week's episode of Apologetics Profile, Daniel Ray concludes his discussion with CERN experimental particle physicist Dr. Michael Strauss. They explore further wondrous evidences of God's design and handiwork at levels never before imagined by anyone. Mathematics and the designs in the physical world, as counterintuitive as they may seem to our common sense, all point us to a benevolent Creator and reveal to us many of the invisible attributes of the Logos, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This two-part podcast was recorded in January 2022 on the campus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary during their annual Defend apologetics conference (www.DefendTheFaith.net).

Dr. Michael Strauss is an experimental particle physicist currently doing research on the ATLAS detector, one of the two multi-purpose particle detectors located on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland. He has been a professor at the University of Oklahoma in Norman since 1995. He is also a Christian and his web-site and blog are a result of the many discussions he has had, and questions he receives about the relationship between science, rational thinking, objective evidence, and Christian faith.

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On the next two episodes of Apologetics Profile, Watchman Fellowship staff apologist Daniel Ray interviews University of Oklahoma particle physicist, Dr. Michael Strauss. A devout Christian, Dr. Strauss discusses some of the growing scientific evidences for the existence of God including in his field of particle physics. Dr. Strauss splits his research time between the University of Oklahoma and the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland.

While there certainly are differences between the two narratives, one thing the Big Bang does give us as believers is a point of commonality with skeptics and atheists about the beginning of our universe. 

Theories which posit something "before" the Big Bang cannot be tested in a laboratory. They are theoretical in nature and there have been many attempts to circumvent the idea of a beginning to our universe. From many worlds to multiverses, nothing has concretely overturned the current scientific paradigm that our universe had a definitive beginning. 

As atheist and cosmologist Dr. Lawrence Krauss recently told our Atheist & Christian Book Club, "Here's the point. Everything we now see,  all of space, all of time, all of the galaxies, all the matter all the radiation, everything that makes up our universe did not exist and then it existed."

[YouTube reference time-stamped: https://youtu.be/Y1g8xxsQfjE?t=3346] 

A theologian could not have described the Genesis doctrine of creation ex nihilo any better.

Dr. Michael Strauss discusses some of the theological implications of "Big Bang" cosmology and why he believes his field of physics of subatomic particles more wondrously than ever reveals the glory of God.

Dr. Michael Strauss is an experimental particle physicist currently doing research on the ATLAS detector, one of the two multi-purpose particle detectors located on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland. He has been a professor at the University of Oklahoma in Norman since 1995. He is also a Christian and his web-site and blog are a result of the many discussions he has had, and questions he receives about the relationship between science, rational thinking, objective evidence, and Christian faith.

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Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship. For more information visit www.watchman.org © Watchman Fellowship, Inc.

Skeptics who disbelieve in the Bible will often propose different reasons for why the New Testament was written. One popular objection suggests "legendary" information crept into the texts we have today and there is just no way to tell fact from fiction. Others say that the Gospels contain real historical information but that the disciples and others were simply mistaken about Jesus' resurrection. They thought Jesus appeared to them, but there is no way to tell if He really did or not. 

New Testament historian and scholar Dr. Gary Habermas, our guest this week on Apologetics Profile, has heard most every popular objection ever given about Jesus rising from the dead. He has debated and been interviewed by atheists and skeptics and has spent most of his professional career compiling solid historical evidence for the resurrection. Here on part two of our conversation with Gary, he provides us with a myriad of reasons why we can know that what we have in the pages of the Gospels is historically trustworthy and authentic. 

Dr. Gary Habermas is a Distinguished Research Professor of Apologetics and Philosophy and chairman of the department of philosophy at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He received a Doctor of Philosophy degree (1976) from Michigan State University in history and philosophy of religion with a thesis entitled "The resurrection of Jesus: a rational inquiry," and previously a master's degree (1973) from the University of Detroit in philosophical theology. He has specialized in cataloging and communicating trends among scholars in the field of historical Jesus and New Testament studies. In 1985, Habermas debated the then-atheist and evidentialist philosopher, Antony Flew, on the question of Jesus' resurrection as a literal and historical/physical event, before 3,000 attendees. Five philosophers and five professional debate judges judged the debate. Of the philosophers who judged on the content of the debate, four voted that Habermas won and the other was undecided.... [Before his death in 2010, Dr. Flew converted from atheism to theism.] In his memoir Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, Nabeel Qureshi [a former Muslim] relates how Habermas was influential in his conversion, and describes him as looking like "a mix between Santa Claus and an offensive lineman." [1]

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[1] "Gary Habermas," Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Habermas

A burgeoning challenge for Christians today is the increasing criticism from skeptics and atheists about the historical reliability of the Gospels, especially the resurrection of Jesus. While some atheists and skeptics, such as New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman, affirm Jesus really did exist, almost all either deny or doubt that Jesus actually rose bodily from the grave and afterward appeared to eye witnesses. 

Since most of us are not New Testament historians or scholars, we might feel ill-equipped to address such criticisms. This is where our guest on the next two editions of Apologetics Profile provides us with a basic framework for answering our skeptical critics about the historicity of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Dr. Gary Habermas is a New Testament scholar and historian. His life's work has been compiling historical information surrounding Jesus' resurrection and distilling his data into a series of 'minimal facts' that the vast majority credentialed scholars in the fields of antiquities, ancient history, New Testament criticism and historical Jesus studies accept. These are some 'minimal facts' on which nearly all Christians scholars, secular academics and even atheist professors agree. 

This is the 'minimal facts' approach; a kind of historical "Roman's Road" that provides very basic historical information in "headline" format for helping lay and scholar alike to begin conversations with skeptics who doubt the resurrection. These 'minimal facts' on the the resurrection of Jesus are certainly not the only historical data that to which Christians may appeal. This 'common ground' approach, however, may be seen as a helpful starting place for believers and non-believers to begin a discussion.

This episode of Apologetics Profile is part one of a two-part podcast. In this episode, Dr. Habermas sits down with Watchman Fellowship's Staff Apologist, Daniel Ray, and outlines the origin and development of the minimal facts approach. 

Dr. Gary Habermas is a Distinguished Research Professor of Apologetics and Philosophy and chairman of the department of philosophy at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He received a Doctor of Philosophy degree (1976) from Michigan State University in history and philosophy of religion with a thesis entitled "The resurrection of Jesus: a rational inquiry," and previously a master's degree (1973) from the University of Detroit in philosophical theology. He has specialized in cataloging and communicating trends among scholars in the field of historical Jesus and New Testament studies. In 1985, Habermas debated the then-atheist and evidentialist philosopher, Antony Flew, on the question of Jesus' resurrection as a literal and historical/physical event, before 3,000 attendees. Five philosophers and five professional debate judges judged the debate. Of the philosophers who judged on the content of the debate, four voted that Habermas won and the other was undecided.... [Before his death in 2010, Dr. Flew converted from atheism to theism.] In his memoir Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, Nabeel Qureshi [a former Muslim] relates how Habermas was influential in his conversion, and describes him as looking like "a mix between Santa Claus and an offensive lineman." [1]

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Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship
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[1] "Gary Habermas," Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Habermas

At Watchman Fellowship, our staff is routinely exposed to the objections about the Bible from skeptics and atheists. Such objections often include arguments against the historical reliability of the New Testament. It seems those objections become even more intensified over the historical reliability of the Gospel of John. Critics often ask of John:

Unfortunately, these concerns and suspicions surrounding John’s Gospel don’t just come from atheists and skeptics critics but also from some Christian scholars. So what can those of us not versed in the critical scholarship of John do? Are we hopelessly tossed about in a sea of scholarly criticism, skeptical objections and textual ambiguities? Absolutely not for John himself intentions in writing about his personal experiences with the Lord Jesus “written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and I believe in you may have life in his name.”

This is the conclusion of a two-part episode of Apologetics Profile. Our staff apologist, Daniel Ray, talks with Dr. Lydia McGrew about her new book defending the historicity and reliability of the Gospel of John. It is entitled, The Eye of the Beholder: The Gospel of John as Historical Reportage.

Dr. Lydia McGrew is a widely published analytic philosopher and author. She received her PhD in English from Vanderbilt University in 1995. She has published extensively in the theory of knowledge, specializing in formal epistemology and in its application to the evaluation of testimony and to the philosophy of religion. She defends the reliability of the Gospels and Acts in her books Hidden in Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels and Acts, The Mirror or the Mask: Liberating the Gospels From Literary Devices, and most recently The Eye of the Beholder: The Gospel of John as Historical Reportage.

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At Watchman Fellowship, our staff is routinely exposed to the objections about the Bible from skeptics and atheists. Such objections often include arguments against the historical reliability of the New Testament. It seems those objections become even more intensified over the historical reliability of the Gospel of John. Critics often ask of John:

Unfortunately, these concerns and suspicions surrounding John’s Gospel don’t just come from atheists and skeptics critics but also from some Christian scholars. So what can those of us not versed in the critical scholarship of John do? Are we hopelessly tossed about in a sea of scholarly criticism, skeptical objections and textual ambiguities? Absolutely not for John himself intentions in writing about his personal experiences with the Lord Jesus “written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and I believe in you may have life in his name.”

This is part one of a two-part episode of Apologetics Profile. Our staff apologist, Daniel Ray, talks with Dr. Lydia McGrew about her new book defending the historicity and reliability of the Gospel of John. It is entitled, The Eye of the Beholder: The Gospel of John as Historical Reportage.

Dr. Lydia McGrew is a widely published analytic philosopher and author. She received her PhD in English from Vanderbilt University in 1995. She has published extensively in the theory of knowledge, specializing in formal epistemology and in its application to the evaluation of testimony and to the philosophy of religion. She defends the reliability of the Gospels and Acts in her books Hidden in Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels and Acts, The Mirror or the Mask: Liberating the Gospels From Literary Devices, and most recently The Eye of the Beholder: The Gospel of John as Historical Reportage.

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Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship
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How should believers defend their faith and share the Christian gospel with those of other worldviews, religions and philosophies? Just what are the "best practices" for Christians seeking to incorporate apologetics as they engage in evangelism and gospel conversations?

Perhaps one of the clearest biblical examples effective apologetics is the Apostle Paul's brief address to the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers at the Areopagus (Mars Hill) in Athens that was recorded by Luke in Acts 17. Dr. Robert Stewart, a member of the Board of Directors of Watchman Fellowship, presented an overview of Paul's unique approach to Christian apologetics at a plenary session of the Defend 2022 Apologetics Conference at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He called Paul's method of blending evangelism with defending the faith "A-Paul-ogetics." After his talk, Dr. Stewart sat down with Watchman staff apologist Daniel Ray to further discuss A-Paul-ogetics and answer some important questions for this week's Apologetics Profile.

Dr. Robert Stewart has been a member of the Board of Directors of Watchman Fellowship for over 20 years. He also serves as Professor of Philosophy and Theology, and Greer-Heard Professor of Faith and Culture, at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary where he directs the Institute for Christian Apologetics. In addition to teaching, he frequently speaks in churches and on university campuses, as well as researching and writing on the subjects of Philosophy of Religion, Christian Theology, Christian Apologetics, and the Historical Jesus. He enjoys golf, music (his first degree was in music--but he got over it!), and spending time with his wife, Marilyn, and their family. He resides in New Orleans, LA.. For more on Dr. Stewart, visit: www.nobts.edu/faculty/stewart-robert.html.

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The New Testament is historically reliable. Part of what gives us the confidence in their historical trustworthiness are what are known as undesigned coincidences; details about names, places, and peculiarities of first-century Israel under the provincial oversight of the Roman Empire that would have been difficult to fabricate for someone writing outside of the region and time of the events in question. 

In part one of this podcast, Watchman staff apologist Daniel Ray talked with Dr. Tawa Anderson about some examples of "incidental details" and "insider knowledge" recorded in the New Testament. In part two, they will discuss some examples of "intricate convergence" found in the pages of Scripture.  

We hope these episodes will encourage you to find and delight in the rich details found in the Gospels and New Testament and give you more confidence that the Scriptures are indeed historically reliable in what they describe.

Dr. Tawa J. Anderson joined the Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) faculty as Assistant Professor of Philosophy in the fall of 2011, shortly after completing his Ph.D. in Worldview & Apologetics at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) in Louisville, KY. Before arriving at OBU, Anderson served as a Garrett Fellow at SBTS, guest lecturing in a broad variety of philosophy courses. For more on Dr. Anderson, visit: www.okbu.edu/directory/tawa-anderson.html

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Skeptics will routinely make the claim that the Gospels and New Testament are filled with contradictions and historically unreliable. Maybe at times you feel like you have to be a biblical scholar to refute such claims. 

Don't worry! On this special two-part episode, we sit down with professor of philosophy and apologetics at Oklahoma Baptist University Dr. Tawa Anderson to discuss a simple way to understand how the New Testament is indeed historically reliable. You need not have a seminary degree to follow along, either! 

It's called undesigned coincidences. First introduced in 1790 by William Paley, this concept highlights simple, seemingly trivial details in the New Testament that would have been difficult if not virtually impossible for someone writing much later and outside the region of first-century Israel and Jerusalem to have correctly mentioned. 

On part one, Tawa gives us examples of  two kinds of undesigned coincidences found in the New Testament  he terms “incidental details” and “insider knowledge.”

In part two we’ll dive deeper into what Tawa calls “intricate convergence” what undesigned coincidences are mostly all about. This is when details in one Gospel account in say Mark are explained in an entirely unrelated account in Luke or Matthew.

Dr. Tawa J. Anderson joined the Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) faculty as Assistant Professor of Philosophy in the fall of 2011, shortly after completing his Ph.D. in Worldview & Apologetics at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) in Louisville, KY. Before arriving at OBU, Anderson served as a Garrett Fellow at SBTS, guest lecturing in a broad variety of philosophy courses. For more on Dr. Anderson, visit: www.okbu.edu/directory/tawa-anderson.html

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Apologetics Profile is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship
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